Sunshine Week finds a very mixed record

Today marks the end of Sunshine Week in the United States, a time in which news-gathering organizations seek to spotlight the need for government openness and transparency.

For local residents, their governments have a wildly mixed record. The Sunshine Review organization this week honored the city of San Diego for the breadth of information made available on its website. Meanwhile, the San Diego County Employees Retirement Association opposes revealing the names of retirees with pensions of more than $100,000 despite seemingly clear legal rulings that the names should be part of the public record. Some state agencies seem quite open, but others are so bad that California was given an F overall by the National Freedom of Information Coalition. At the federal level, reports say the Obama administration has continued the media-hostile policies it inherited.

It is disappointing that so many bureaucrats and elected officials look at plainly written laws intended to make government transparent and somehow discern a right to withhold information.

This isn’t a partisan issue – or at least it shouldn’t be. Open government is in everyone’s interest.